Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is a 2001 American computer-animated adventure comic science fiction film produced by Nickelodeon Movies, O Entertainment, and DNA Productions, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by creator John A. Davis and written by Davis and producer Steve Oedekerk, with voice talents by Debi Derryberry, Patrick Stewart, Martin Short, Rob Paulsen, and Jeffrey Garcia. The precursor to the TV show, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, which followed shortly after, Jimmy Neutron ''follows the title character, a schoolboy with super-genius powers who must save all the of the parents of the world from a race of egg-like aliens known as the Yolkians. The idea for ''Jimmy Neutron was first created by Davis in the 1980s, in which he wrote a script for a short film titled Runaway Rocketboy and starring a prototype character for Jimmy named Johnny Quasar. After coming across the abandoned script several years later, Davis decided that it would be a good idea to revisit it and retool it as a computer animated short and potential TV series. A 40-second demo was animated using LightWave 3D and gained popularity at the 1995 SIGGRAPH convention where it was shown off, grabbing the attention of Oedekerk and leading DNA Productions to develop an extended TV Pilot. After a successful pitch to Nickelodeon, a 13-minute-long TV episode was developed, and Nickelodeon, impressed with both the character and the 3D technology, raised the possibility making both a TV series and a full-length feature film. Davis, in turn, suggested that the film be made first, so that the development team could create the assets at theatrical quality and reuse them in the TV series. Production officially began in early 2000, and was completed in roughly 24 months, with DNA Productions considerably raising its staff count and expanding its studio space. Animation was done entirely using commercial software, including Lightwave and project:messiah. Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius was released on December 21, 2001.1 Backed by a strong pre-release campaign, the film was a box office success, grossing $103 million worldwide. This film along with Shrek and Monsters, Inc. were nominated for the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2001, ultimately losing to Shrek. It was the only animated Nickelodeon film to ever be nominated in that category until Rango (2011) was nominated and won. Due to its success, the film was spun off into an Nickelodeon animated television show series called The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, which premiered on July 20, 2002 and ended on November 25, 2006. Eight years later, another spin-off series called Planet Sheen was produced, focusing on Jimmy's friend Sheen Estevez. This series premiered on October 2, 2010 and ended on February 15, 2013. Plot James Isaac "Jimmy" Neutron is an extremely intelligent young boy who goes to elementary school in the fictional town and city of Retroville. Alongside his robotic dog, Goddard, he spends much of his time building complex inventions with the hopes of further advancing science, but is hampered by the protectiveness of his parents, Hugh and Judy Neutron. One day, Jimmy is attempting to launch a communications satellite made from his family's toaster into outer space after receiving a garbled radio signal from what he believes may be a message from extraterrestrial life. This irks Judy, who scolds him for trying to communicate with strangers. After school, Jimmy and his friends, Carland Sheen, spot a poster for an amusement park called "Retroland." However, Hugh Neutron and Judy Neutron refuse to let him go that night because it is a school night, and he gets grounded for causing a fire with one of his inventions by sitting on the bed in the bedroom at night. Meanwhile, Jimmy's communications satellite is picked up near the planet Yolkus, home to an alien race called the Yolkians, who commandeer their warships that look like a fleet of rubber chickens. King Goobot V and his assistant, Ooblar, watch a pre-recorded message from Jimmy, featuring him introducing himself and explaining about life on Earth, with Goobot declaring "the search is over". Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen subsequently choose to sneak out and visit the theme park on the advice of their popular classmate with cool personality and behavior boy named Nick Dean. As the three kids are at the amusement park, the Yolkians kidnap all the parents from all the houses in the suburban section of the city, leaving fake notes on the refrigerators in the kitchen to tell the kids that they have gone to Florida for an "extended vacation". Coincidentally, Carl spots a shooting star (actually a Yolkian ship), so he, Jimmy and Sheen wish for no more parental control so they be free and can have fun all the time and forever. The next morning, the kids discover the parents have all disappeared and celebrate for the whole day. They eat tons of delicious junk food and do fun stuff whatever they want such as jumping on the bed and furniture, running up the down escalator in the shopping mall, and water skiing in the elementary school hall. However, the following day, all the children quickly begin to miss their parents by getting themselves hurt or sick such as tummy aches, broken bones, constipation, and bruises. After hearing a message from his parents that Goddard had recorded while posing as Jimmy last night, Jimmy becomes suspicious of the fact that his parents said that they would see him in the morning despite not being there. After discovering what has really happened, he rallies the town and city's other children to build intergalatic star space rocket ships from the Retroland amusement park rides to travel to Yolkus and get their parents back. While traveling in their intergalactic rocket star space ships made from Retroland amusement park rides, the kids are having to watch out for meteors from a meteor shower. After arriving on the asteroid for a safe place to sleep for a space camp, the kids tearfully recalled what their parents did every night at bedtime before they were abducted by aliens. Upon arrival, they are captured by Goobot, who tells them that the parents are to be sacrificed to their goddess, Poultra. He shows the kids Jimmy's message video, thanking him for helping him find suitable species for their ritual, before having the children locked up in their cells, while Goddard is taken to a laboratory to be dismantled. With Jimmy feeling sad, bad, depressed and guilty over the fact that his actions led to the Yolkans abducting the parents in the first place by crying like a baby, his classmate and rival next door girl named Cindy Vortex convinces him to buck up and stand up and think of an escape plan. After breaking out with the help of Goddard, the children (with the exception of Nick, as he turns out to be cowardly), in accordance with Jimmy's plan, manage to stop the parents from being sacrificed to Poultra, a giant space monster that looks a lot like a chicken. Everyone escapes aboard a Yolkian ship, but Goobot follows them in his ship at the head of the Yolkian fleet. With the exception of Goobot's ship, all of the Yolkian ships are destroyed when Jimmy baits them into flying too close to Yolkus' sun. Jimmy and Goddard then use an experimental shrink ray to grow to the size of a planet, and blow Goobot's ship into an asteroid: Goobot and Ooblar survive the explosion, and Goobot vows revenge. Jimmy and the rest of the human kids reconcile with their parents and head back home. Sometime later, Jimmy and Carl are having breakfast of eggs in an egg cup when Jimmy's parents drink one of his experiments (that causes significant belching), thinking it is real soda can, and they all laugh out loud funny while Goddard is seen outside flying to chase a bird by imitating like a bird. In the mid-credits scene, Mrs Fowl, who is in ant size, is seen riding on an apple worm named Mr. Wiggles on her way to the cafeteria in the elementary school hall. Voice cast * Debi Derryberry as Jimmy Neutron * Patrick Stewart as King Goobot V * Carolyn Lawrence as Cindy Vortex * Rob Paulsen as Carl Wheezer/Mr. and Mrs. Wheezer (Credited as Carl’s Mom and Dad) * Jeffrey Garcia as Sheen Estevez * Crystal Scales as Libby Folfax * Martin Short as Ooblar * Frank Welker as Goddard (uncredited)/Poultra * Candi Milo as Nick Dean/Britney/PJ * Megan Cavanagh as Judy Neutron (Credited as Mom)/VOX/Mrs. Vortex(Credited as Cindy's Mom) * Mark DeCarlo as Hugh Neutron (Credited as Dad)/Pilot/Arena Guard/Mr. Vortex (Credited as Cindy's Dad) * Carlos Alazraqui as Mr. Estevez (Credited as Sheen’s Dad) * Kimberly Brooks as Zachery/Reporter/Angie * Andrea Martin as Ms. Winfred Fowl (Credited as Ms. Fowl) * Billy West as Bobby's Twin Brother/Butch/Old Man Johnson/Robobarber * West also did various other voices, according to the film's closing credits. * Bob Goen and Mary Hart as Yokian newscasters * Dee Bradley Baker as Norad Officer * Greg Eagles as Mr. Folfax (uncredited) * David L. Lander as Yokian Guard/Gus * Jim Cummings as Ultra Lord/Mission Control/General Bob * Keith Alcorn as Bobby/Control Yokian